Introduction

The Nikkor AF-S 55-200mm f/4-5.6 G ED DX is one of the most affordable tele
zoom lenses in the current Nikon lens lineup. It is usually sold as part of a double
lens kit package combined with one of the Nikon consumer DSLRs but it is also
available separately for about 200 US$/€.
As a designated DX lens it projects a reduced APS-C image circle and
is therefore not compatible to full-frame SLRs. The field-of-view is equivalent to
82.5-300mm.

Similar to the AF-S 18-55mm the build quality is acceptable at best due to
the extensive usage of cheap plastics for everything but the glass.
The very broad rubberized zoom ring feels reasonably smooth with a slight
increase in friction towards the long end of the zoom range.
The tiny focus ring is located at the front of the outer barrel. However,
this is really more a cosmetic implementation because the focus path
is extremely short thus making it almost impossible to achieve an accurate
focus via manual focusing.

As you can observe about the lens extends towards the long end of the zoom
range using a rather unusual triple-cam design. At its 55mm setting it is
extremely compact whereas it almost doubles in size at 200mm plus a couple of extra cm
when adding the supplied petal-shaped lens hood. The front element
does not rotate which is quite unusual for a lens in this price class -
using a polarizer remains easily possible.
Typical for all G lenses the Nikkor does not provide a dedicated
aperture ring anymore.
Surprisingly the Nikkor features an AF-S motor (silent-wave (ultrasonic))
but while this has the benefits of providing near silent AF the speed
is comparatively slow.
The lens is available in a black and in a silver variant to match the body
colors of Nikon's entry level DSLRs.